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We love Netflix year round, but daaaang is their May lineup fan-tas-tic!

On the TV front, you can catch the latest Serpent shenanigans in Riverdale: Season 3, weep uncontrollably at the phenomenal first season of FX’s Pose, indulge on six new episode of Nailed It!, and get political with Hasan Minhaj in the third volume of his show, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj.

If you’re looking for movies to stream, start with Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, a Ted Bundy biopic starring Zac Efron like you’ve never seen him before. Mashable’s ace film critic Angie Han wasn’t a huge fan of the film when she saw it at Sundance, but you can bet everyone will be talking about it when it hits Netflix, for good or for bad.

Check out everything coming to and going from Netflix in May 2019 below.

Top Pick:Easy, Season 3

Hilarious, poignant, and unique, Easy is coming to an end after debuting a third and final season this May — and while we’re sad to see it go, we can’t wait for those last episodes to arrive.

If you’re unfamiliar with Easy, as too many are, it’s an emotional anthology series that follows various characters through pivotal (and often painful) moments in their lives. You can jump in at any point, although a few Season 1 characters do return in Season 2.

Easy is the kind of show that will make your heart hurt in all the best ways. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll consider buying a sexy construction worker costume. Enjoy!

Wine was glugged, songs were sung, and things got emotional in what might serve as the final chance to hang out with some of our favourite characters

How do you kill time before the actual time for killing? Perhaps you amuse yourself with wordplay. Episode two of the final season of Game of Thrones was called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a grand and unusually courtly title for a drama defined by political opportunism and devious backstabbing. But, as a prelude to episode three long trailed as featuring the biggest and most spectacular battle in a show that has never been short on epic ding-dongs it consisted of one long night for a ragtag band from all seven kingdoms, as the forces at Winterfell prepared their bodies, souls and livers for the imminent arrival of the Night King and his undead army.

This was essentially a single-location bottle episode, with Tyrion providing a steady flow of passable northern wine. It is odd to think of Game of Thrones, probably the most lavish show on TV, fretting about budgets in a final season that must have essentially come with a blank cheque attached, but this instalment never left the Starks chilly family stronghold, although with dozens of glum extras milling about in the background preparing siege defences, it was probably the most expensive bottle episode ever made.

What could have been a bloody encounter the cliffhanging arrival of Jaime Lannister, notorious killer of Daeneryss father and longstanding plotter against the Starks was done and dusted in the opening five minutes. He was ready to fight for the living, and that was enough. Even Bran, the child he defenestrated in the very first episode, seemed pretty chill about it, in his weird cryptic Professor X way. After that pseudo-trial concluded, there was the strange but not unpleasant sensation of Game of Thrones turning into a Richard Linklater hangout movie. The camera roamed through the corridors, courtyard and crypt of snowy Winterfell as beloved characters gloomily considered their fate or busied themselves to take their minds off impending doom.

By lingering in hallways and nooks, this was an atypical instalment of a drama that has always gone to great and often bloodthirsty lengths to surprise its audience. There was the obligatory scene of all the major stakeholders huddled around a battle map discussing potential strategies. But while Game of Thrones has always shown that Westeros politicking involves having a ton of meetings with various advisers, previously all that sharp-tongued statecraft was bracketed by fun adventures out in the wider world. Until this season, someone was always going somewhere far-flung to do something if you play the Game of Thrones, you must be good at orienteering, it seems but for good or ill the major players are now all assembled at Winterfell. They have literally run out of road.

At CES in Las Vegas earlier this year, Google boasted about new ways to use its digital assistant everywhere you go: in the Google Maps app, infotainment systems, and car accessories. Now Google Assistant is available for hardcore users whose cars aren’t so “smart” and can’t work with Android Auto. It’s the first after-market device to bring Google Assistant to the car.

In a partnership with Anker’s Roav brand, the Bolt device brings Google Assistant to your car through your smartphone (be sure to download the Google Assistant app if you don’t have a Pixel phone) via car charging socket and stereo. It’s optimized for Android devices, so iPhone users will have to wait.

You can ask the assistant for directions (it’ll pull up Google Maps on your phone), text your mom, look up nearby restaurants or businesses, play music or podcasts, call someone, have the Assistant read your texts to you, and any other assistant duties like adding items to your to-do list or calendar.

Last week, Tomer Amarilio, a Google product manager, showed me how the accessory works plugged into the cigarette lighter port and with an auxiliary cord so you hear everything through your car speakers. Last week he explained that it’s a way to “make the Assistant part of the car” instead of using your phone on a dashboard dock with harder-to-hear speakers than those in your car.

It’s a bit redundant if you already have the Google Assistant app on your phone and straight-up unnecessary if you have a connected car with Android Auto or Apple’s CarPlay. But the accessory is made for a car experience — meaning it can handle loud background noises with its dual microphones and noise reduction built into the small device. So it can pick up your “OK, Google,” wake word even with the radio blaring.

Plug it in and go.

Image: google

The device is helpful for users who’ve gotten used to voice control in other spaces like their kitchen or living room. Without plugging in a Google Home smart speaker into your car, you can be like one of the 20 million vehicles expected within the next four years to include Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa in the car — even if you’re driving in an older, “low-tech” vehicle.

Amarilio said the accessory is supposed to bring the helpfulness of the Assistant into the car while driving. “The whole point is to have distraction-free driving,” he said.

iPhone users should stick with the Assistant app since the device doesn’t pair well yet with iOS. But the accessory does have two USB charging ports that can charge your iPhone (or any device), so it’s not a total waste if you get one.

Starting Wednesday, the Roav Boalt is at Best Buy stores and online at bestbuy.com and walmart.com. It’ll be in Walmart and Target stores in the next few weeks. It’s $49.99, so not cheap but half of a Google Home smart speaker. Amazon’s slow-to-arrive Echo Auto is going for a special $25 price, but you need an invite to purchase Alexa for your car. Eventually its non-promo price also will be $50.

Imgur user Solarstephy got a hot tip on this Ranch style house in Buda, Texas. It looks pretty unassuming from the outside, but step inside and your eyes start to water. Who of all people would be comfortable living here? A baroque cowboy? Some kind of grandma Dracula? Delores Umbridge? If you’re intrigued by people trying to sell terrible houses, check out these terrible real estate photos.

“Honestly I do admire the dedication and talent of the owner to paint this (because Lord knows I can’t come close) but on the cabinets?”

9

“That cow ottoman is out of place in this floral graveyard.”

10

“More painted cabinets! At least it’s a uniform pattern!So everyone should be able to do whatever the hell they want to their house, BUT I hope these people realize that resale is not going to be easy. (Heck, we’ve got a purple walled bedroom in our house that I know we will have to repaint when we sell). This is a very eclectic style that is attractive to a select few.”

More than two years after posting horrifying photos of his dead wife to Facebookalong with a succinct, cold confessionDerek Medina has been found guilty of second-degree murder.

He faces life in prison, though Medina, 33, showed no emotion upon learning his legal fate on Wednesday.

In August 2013, Medina shot his wife Jennifer Alfonso eight times following a heated domestic argument. As the Miami Heraldreports, this was because Medina “wanted her dead,” as State Prosecutor Jennifer Alfonso told the jury Tuesday.

Medina’s defense painted the husband and father as an abused spouse who had reached a breaking point after longstanding marital abuse. His attorney, Saam Zangeneh, said that the lethal domestic encounter escalated after Alfonso lunged at Medina with a kitchen knifethat he acted with justifiable force, in self-defense.

Once you realize this knife was in her hand, thats a game changer, he told jurors, according to the Herald.

But the defense rested last week after pointing out that Medina took time between the confrontation to walk upstairs and retrieve his gun, and after a medical examiner testified that Alfonso was cowering prior to being shot to death.

Shortly after he took pictures of the body, he uploaded them to Facebook along with the following caption:

Im going to prison or death sentence for killing my wife love you guys miss you guys takecare Facebook people you will see me in the news

For the second-degree murder charge to stick, state prosecutors needed show that Medina acted with a depraved mind. His baffling online trail of self-help ebooksat least one of which tackled marriage counselingand martial arts YouTube videos aided that process.

This one was updated just two days before he calmly turned himself into local authorities.

Per Florida’s state laws,prosecution of second-degree murder is permissible if the killing was not planned but the defendant had an ongoing relationship with the victim. First-degree murder requires proof that the defendant had intent to kill.

According to theHerald, State Prosecutor J. Scott Dunn admitted the Facebook confession was paramount, telling jurors: “It’s hard to tell the world you’re going to prison and walk that back.”

Medina was also convicted of illegal discharge of a firearm inside a buildling and with child neglect. His 10-year-old daughter was home during the altercation.

The Biggest Pop Culture Weekend Ever?

Its nice to learn a new phrase that will make you cry every time you hear for it. Take, for example, Arise, Ser Brienne of Tarth, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

Sunday nights episode was, beyond a doubt, the most emotionalGame of Thrones I had ever seenand therefore also this big ole softies favorite. (Less fighting! More existential bonding!)

The entire episode was the Westeros equivalent of that scene at the end of Toy Story 3 where all the toys are heading towards the incinerator, and so they link hands and find comfort and strength in being together with the ones they love as they face certain death and I weep uncontrollably through it all.

The surprisingly tender Sansa-Theon reunion; the Sam, Jon, and Edd pow-wow; Podrick singing that gorgeous song as everyone drank around the fire and contemplated the battle ahead. It was a trip watching these characters weve known and loved and sometimes forgotten the names of because, hey, theres so many of them, seize life, maybe for the last time, in their own peculiar ways. But nothing holds a candle to that beautiful, magnificently acted knighting of Brienne.

Making the whole thing even more monumental is knowing that, yep, Briennes definitely going to die this week. I have no inside TV reporter intel on that. That scene just felt like such a swan song and the trailer for Sunday night does not look good for our beloved badass. In fact, its not looking good for a lot of fan-favorite characters, both in GoT and in the other big nerd-out event happening this weekend.

A special prayer goes out to spoiler-phobes, who could be facing the most traumatizing Monday morning of their lives this week, what with a surefire body count set for Sunday nights episode of Game of Thrones and whatever Top Secret nonsense is unfurling in Avengers: Endgame.

Consider it the pop culture apocalypsethe Apopculturelypse?for those who dont want to know what happened in TV shows and movies they havent had a chance to see yet and which will 100 percent be spoiled for them at work this week.

I mean, a reported 8,000 screenings of Endgame have already sold out this weekend. That number is absurd. It truly speaks to the fact that The Avengers may be the most popular franchise ever and also that this weekend would be a great time to go to the laundromat or try to get a reservation at a crowded restaurant.

As for me? Spoil away! Please, someone tell me who dies in Endgame and save me three hours and $19. (But dont you dare breathe a word of Thrones secrets.)

Justice for Showgirls?

Every once in a while, its nice to be reminded that your favorite stars of yesteryear are doing OK! That they seem nice and normal and are going through life just fine. A sigh of relief on that topic came this week when an Instagram surfaced of Saved By the Bell stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tiffani Thiessen, Mario Lopez, and Elizabeth Berkley having dinner together. (Lisa Turtle and Screech were not there, and I do not want to know why because the answer is probably too dark.)

We all like to live in a fantasy world where TV friends we grew up with are still adult friends years laterI believe that freezing time is the one superpower we would all agree is usefulso its a special joy when we see that they actually are. The four have somehow weathered decades of career ups and downs and scrutiny and come out alive (no small feat!) with a healthy perspective on those downs along the way.

To that point, one of the buzziest and most interesting entries in this years Tribeca Film Festival (happening right now in New York) litigates once again perhaps the defining moment in Berkleys careercaffeine-pill addicted Tina Turner covers notwithstanding. You Dont Nomi(best name ever?) is a documentary that revisits the notorious flop-turned-cult-classic Showgirls.

This isnt the first time there has been an attempt to understand how a prestigious director (Paul Verhoeven), a promising cast (Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon), and a sexy premise combined into a final product as reviled as this was, but which then grew to become cherished and maybe even appreciated on its own merits.

Is Showgirls more than a masterpiece of shit, or a type of comedy you cant make on purpose, the film wonders? Is it actually a stealth masterpiece, bar none? The film revisitis Verhoevens other, more celebrated works, and juxtaposes scenes, specific shots, and themes against those routinely mocked from Showgirls to make its argument. Am I ridiculous for being convinced?

Whether you saw Showgirls when it first came out and were offended, watch it every Friday night while it plays on mute at a gay bar in Hells Kitchen, or are only familiar with it because of the image results of an Alta Vista search for sexy nude celebrity you did with the family filter off on the desktop in the basement 20 years ago, its a very worthwhile dissection of a wild movie that became a pop culture phenomenon. Justice for Elizabeth Berkley! We love her!

Ramy Should Be Your Next Comedy Binge

As more and more TV options emerge and threaten to suffocate us all, its harder to do something that genuinely feels fresh, special, or, perhaps the biggest barrier, actually necessary. Thats what makes Ramy so remarkable.

The comedy series is on Hulu, and does that very rare, admirable thing of telling a story that is deeply personal and specificsomething that makes an underseen demographic feel validated and valuedwhile at the same time being universal, producing something both relatable and illuminating.

Ramy is an occasionally hilarious and routinely fascinating look at a millennial Muslim-American, whose second-generation status introduces a host of impossible-to-navigate tensions and contradictions in his life.

His pursuitslove, sex, friendship, a rewarding job, a good relationship with his parentsare recognizable to the point of exhaustiveness when it comes to auteur, meaningful comedies. But Ramys identity is inextricable from the experiences hes going through, and the show isnt shy about being honest about religion, while at the same time not politicizing it.

The show makes for a great watch. I endorse! (For more on Ramy, listen to Matt Wilsteins interview with star Ramy Youssef in his The Last Laugh podcast.)

Amy Poehlers Description of Twitter Deserves a Pulitzer

Sometimes when I just think of Amy Poehler, my heart fills with the kind of warm feelings I imagine the rest of you get when you see newborn puppies (ew, theyre loud and they smell). Shes an unrivaled comedic performer, confident in her talent, and candid about how she engages with the worlda manner which, it just so happens, we should all maybe emulate.

In any case, Poehler gave a great interview to The Hollywood Reporterin advance of her new movie Wine Country, which she directed; which co-stars Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer, Rachel Dratch, and Tina Fey; and which will henceforth be referred to as The Avengers: Wine Country. (These are my heroes.)

In the interview, she described Twitter in her own words. I may never recover:

Sophie Turner Has the Arya Sex Take That Matters

It is very important to me that everyone watch this video of Sophie Turner (who plays Sansa Stark), recorded while wine drunk with red-stained lips, in reaction to Arya Starks sex scene that happened to air on Easter.

What to see this week:

Not the White House Correspondents Dinner: I firmly believe the world would be infinitely better if everyone watched Samantha Bee.

The Red Line: A new series boasting the most important four words in television: Produced by Ava DuVernay.

Avengers: Endgame: Even the most cynical of my critic friends liked this. Fine, go see it.

What to skip this week:

Chambers: What will it take to get Uma Thurman a worthy project these days?

has made great strides in beefing up its library of original content, and this month welcomes more Netflix originals than any month in recent memory. From hard-hitting documentaries to irreverent comedies to children’s TV shows, these Netflix original movies and series will keep subscribers busy for a long time. See our top recommendations along with the full list of Netflix originals coming this month. (And if you want more non-original content, you can check out our full list of in May and .)

Netflix originals in May 2019: Top picks to watch

1) (May 1)

The star ofKnock Down the Houseis Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and theres really no way around it. But Rachel Lears film documentary wouldnt be complete without three other women who ran for Congress in their respective districts in 2018: West Virginias Paula Jean Swearengin, Missouris Cori Bush, and Nevadas Amy Vilela. Lears gives us a real-time look at the campaign trail hustle for everyday citizens. She also shows the emotional stakes. Initially funded on Kickstarter, it was purchased by Netflix earlier this year for a stunning $10 million. Its clear theres a desire to see these feel-good, grassroots stories of the progressive movement, even as the rapidly changing landscape leading to 2020 recontextualizes them. Audra Schroeder

2) Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile(May 3)

Ted Bundy was not a special man, nor was he a particularly brilliant one. He was just an attractive white male whose surface-level charm allowed him to commit horrific crimes against women for years without getting caught. Netflixs highly anticipated biopic stars Zac Efron as the infamous serial killer, and its based on his former girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfers memoir, The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy. Bryan Rolli

3) Tuca & Bertie(May 3)

FromBoJack Horsemanproduction designer and producerLisa Hanawalt comesTuca & Bertie, a new animated comedy about two 30-year-old bird women (voiced by Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong) navigating their personal and professional lives. The two pals deal with workplace sexism, crappy dates, and the existential dread that comes with getting older. They dont have all the answers, but they have each other, and that might be enough. B.R.

4) Wine Country(May 10)

Friendships do not blossom by accident; they require constant nurturing and troubleshooting when things turn sour. Abby (Amy Poehler) learns that the hard way when she plans a Napa Valley getaway with her best friends to celebrate Rebeccas (Rachel Dratch) 50th birthday. Poehler, playing her typical Type-A self, quickly realizes that even the most intimate friendships get held to the fire on a vacation where everything seems to go wrong. As Tammy (Tina Fey) encouragingly puts it: Whatever gets said, its probably what the person has always felt, and the alcohol just let it out.B.R.

5) Jailbirds(May 10)

Life inside prison operates by its own set of rules, and you better adapt if you dont want a rough time to get even rougher. Netflix original docuseries Jailbirds takes a harrowing look inside the walls of the Sacramento County Jail, where inmates make enemies, forge alliances, and sometimes even fall in love as they come to terms with their present reality. The common thread: Inmates do whatever they can to make their time behind bars easier. We might be locked up physically, one inmate says, but mentally and emotionally, Im rollin.B.R.

Still not sure what to watch tonight? Here are our guides for the absolute , must-see , , , and .

Looking for something more specific? Here are our Netflix guides for the , , anime, , , , , , , , , , and streaming right now. There are also guaranteed to make you cry, to melt your brain, , and when you really need to laugh. Or check out Flixable, a search engine for Netflix.

In this Wednesday, April 3, 2019, photo, children play in the water on a beach near a mosque collapsed during Sept. 28, 2018, earthquake is seen in the background in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The earthquake spawned a large localized tsunami that wiped out coastal areas, while liquefaction caused by the shaking turned entire neighborhoods into rivers of sludge. The disaster killed thousands of people, making it the world’s deadliest seismic event in 2018. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

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In this Wednesday, April 3, 2019 photo, a motorist rides past ruins of buildings destroyed during the Sept. 28, 2018, earthquake in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Though the Sept. 28, 2018, tragedy in remote central Sulawesi that killed thousands of people is fading from memory, large parts of the city look like they were struck only yesterday, a daily reminder to residents of the horrors they lived through. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

PALU, Indonesia – Six months after Palu was ripped apart by an earthquake, tsunami and liquefying soil that sucked neighborhoods into the earth and killed thousands, a second crisis is looming as recovery efforts stumble and a city that feels ignored begs for humanitarian assistance.

Thousands of people in this city on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island are still living in sweltering tent cities, while construction of new permanent homes has yet to start and almost a third of temporary housing is unoccupied after aid groups and authorities failed to connect the units to essential utilities.

President Joko Widodo, who is seeking a second term in elections this week, and his deputy promised that financial assistance to those whose homes were destroyed or whose loved ones were killed would be rapidly distributed. But not a cent has been paid out.

“It’s like we’re forgotten,” said Ade Zahra, a mother of eight living in a tent city who says it’s a miracle her family survived when the quake turned their village to mud and engulfed their home.

“We’ve received no more assistance in the past two months, not only the government, but also humanitarian groups and volunteers who used to provide a lot,” she said.

The city’s struggle to recover highlights a broader problem of neglect often suffered by remote regions in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago home to hundreds of ethnic groups. Far from the center of economic, political and cultural power in populous Java, the region around Palu has a history of sectarian conflict and perceived indifference to its plight could embolden hard-liners.

City officials, meanwhile, are worried frustration among the displaced has reached a breaking point.

As anger among the refugees simmers, Widodo is focused on securing his reelection. Sulawesi mostly voted for Widodo in 2014, but he risks losing ground there this time. That could be crucial if the race is tighter than polls, which are predicting a strong Widodo victory.

The Sept. 28 earthquake spawned a large localized tsunami that wiped out coastal areas, while liquefaction caused by the shaking turned entire neighborhoods into rivers of sludge. The disaster killed more than 4,400 people, making it the world’s deadliest seismic event in 2018.

The central government, at the time still grappling with the aftermath of deadly earthquakes on Lombok Island, appealed for international aid but didn’t declare a national disaster, which would’ve opened the door wider to foreign assistance. It prohibited international aid organizations from operating on the ground.

Though the tragedy is fading from the national consciousness, large parts of Palu look like they were struck only yesterday, a daily reminder to residents of the horrors they lived through.

About 90% of roads have been repaired, according to Palu’s mayor, but the shoreline is littered in debris and hollowed out buildings that lean precariously.

Waves wash inside Apung Palu Mosque, which once sat majestically on pillars in Palu Bay. People looking for valuables pick through a vast jumble of personal belongings and house debris, all that’s left of once thriving communities.

In Sigi district bordering Palu, several dozen white tents emblazoned with the U.N. refugee agency’s logo are home to hundreds of evacuees, who look with envy and anger at temporary housing across the road — some of it occupied, some empty and some still unfinished.

During the day, the tents are blazing hot and at night refugees, who include a man incapacitated by a stroke and a boy with cerebral palsy, shiver.

Frustrated residents recall that not long after the disaster Vice President Jusuf Kalla visited and promised they’d soon get money to help rebuild their lives. Instead things seem to be getting worse.

They have clean drinking water, but a mobile kitchen provided by an aid group closed due to lack of donations. Members of some families have jobs, but others have almost nothing, their former livelihoods gone. Some beg for money.

Zahra, the mother of eight, said she hopes the government finally fulfills its promise.

“Have mercy on us,” she said.

Officially, about 173,000 people were displaced by the disaster and about 20,000 are still living in tents that Palu’s mayor says were designed to last three months. The actual number without stable housing is much higher.

At a block of eight buildings built by a charitable foundation run by Kalla’s business empire, a banner announced they were handed over to the city on Feb. 14. All sit empty and unconnected to utilities, the only sign of life a few cows grazing between them.

Temporary housing built nearby by another organization is occupied, some by residents of a neighborhood wiped out by liquefaction.

Umira, who uses a single name, wept as she recalled the ordeal her family has endured since the night they fled a sea of moving trees and houses. Eight of her relatives were killed, including her grandson.

They’ve gone from sheltering in a sports stadium to fashioning their own makeshift lodging in the ruins of a house to finally being assigned to a room in a temporary housing unit.

“We all cried with happiness,” she said of the moment two months ago when they learned they would have housing. “Even my husband cried and hugged the wall of our new home.”

The family still gets aid, Umira said, such as staple foods and cooking oil, though it’s distributed without any predictable schedule.

When the aid runs out they rely on income from running an on-call motorcycle taxi service.

“If there is a call, we can eat,” she said. “If not, we will only eat rice with salt.”

Presley Tampubolon, the head of Palu’s disaster agency who oversees temporary housing, said the need for accommodation has been greater than anticipated.

For every house destroyed or damaged, there would often be several generations of a family living in it. He said it would be “inhuman” to expect such families to fit into the 3-meter-by-4-meter (10-foot-by-13-foot) rooms that have been built.

He said the government and aid groups have built temporary buildings with 5,300 total rooms that can accommodate nearly 41,000 people. But about 1,600 of those rooms are empty because they weren’t connected to water, electricity or sanitation, he said.

Hidayat, the mayor of Palu who uses a single name, said the central government has stopped building temporary homes despite the need and construction of permanent dwellings hasn’t started.

Compounding the problem is that the central government’s social affairs and public works ministries haven’t released “mourning allowances” and funds for people to build new homes.

He said he’s worried anger will soon boil over.

The social affairs ministry’s director of social protection and disaster victims, Margo Wiyono, said the ministry has verified 1,906 of the 4,400 names of heirs who would be entitled to mourning allowances and has proposed the finance ministry pay them.

He said they were still investigating the rest.

“We don’t want the allowances worth 15 million rupiah ($1,050) per heir to fall into the hands of irresponsible people,” he said.

The budget director-general at the finance ministry, Askolani, said it’s in the process of approving money to pay the allowances. He said releasing funds for new housing is contingent on several factors, including reviewing local government data and identifying areas for new settlements that are safe from liquefaction.

Hidayat isn’t waiting. He said the Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation has agreed to build 3,000 new homes in the Palu area, but he is urging organizations and local governments from around the country to build more.

“Our regional capabilities are very limited,” he said. “As the mayor, I’m begging for help to many humanitarian groups and institutions.”

Some weeks, there are so many tall-skinny cylinders sitting around my apartment you might think I spend my time as a wizard in The Cones of Dunshire. Sadly, you'd be wrong. The job of a WIRED Gear reviewer does not include making civilizations to collect cones. It does involve testing a ton of can-shaped portable speakers. The JBL Link 20 is one my favorites, and it's half off through April 27.

Usually speakers come in, and I test them, and then they leave my cluttered life. But the JBL Link 20 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has been so reliable and useful that I've kept it around for nearly a year and a half. It's a Google Home speaker that lets you speak to a voice assistant hands-free, like all of the best smart speakers these days. This one has Google Assistant. Unlike many smart speakers, it's also waterproof (it floats!), can connect via Bluetooth, and has a battery that holds a 10-hour charge.

JBL's Link 10, Link 300, and Link 500 speakers are also on sale. The smaller model has weaker battery life and the larger two don't have batteries at all, but all three are also Google speakers I recommend.

When you buy something using the retail links in our stories, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Read more about how this works.

Is the Link 20 for You?

Here's what I like and dislike about the Link 20.

WIRED: The Link 20 merges the convenience and portability of the best Bluetooth speakers and the new generation of smart speakers for the home. It has an extra light to show its Wi-Fi signal strength and a light-up indicator for battery life. Muting, volume, and pausing are easy, as is activating Bluetooth. It can also charge while standing up, which isn't always true for bottle-shaped speakers.

Since it's a Google Home speaker, setup is also easy. Just download the Google Home app, click to set up a new device, and you're pretty much done. Google Assistant is currently more capable than Amazon's Alexa assistant when it comes to networking speakers and answering questions.

TIRED: The only issue I've had with the Link 20 is that it has such a strong microphone, it sometimes overpowers my other Google speakers. Sometimes, even if I'm talking to a speaker in the kitchen, the Link 20 will try to answer. Closing my bedroom door fixes this problem.

If you've ever heard a JBL speaker, your ears will feel at home. JBL's are not as clear as the absolute best speakers, like those from UE or Sonos, but they do the job well. The Link 20 can play Lizzo's new album with the best of 'em, and I can't say I've cared about much else for the past couple of weeks.

A damning new report by the Department of Justice found that Alabama mens prisonsand the depraved conditions inmates have been forced to endurelikely violate the Eighth Amendment, which protects prisoners from cruel and unusual punishments.

As part of a two-and-half-year investigation, the DOJ determined that Alabama prisons have the highest homicide rate in the nation and that the violence behind bars has increased dramatically in the past five years.

The United States Constitution bans cruel and unusual punishments but the conditions found in our investigation of Alabama prisons provide reasonable cause to believe there is a flagrant disregard of that injunction, U.S. Attorney Richard Moore said.

Within one week inside Alabama state mens prisons, the DOJ recorded numerous violent attacks, sexual assaults, and contraband, such as methamphetamine and weapons.

During one horrific incident described in the report, two prisoners stood guardwatching for rarely-seen correctional officerswhile two other prisoners stabbed a fellow inmate.

The victim screamed for help. Another prisoner tried to intervene and he, too, was stabbed, the report reads. When an officer finally responded, he found the prisoner lying on the floor bleeding from his chest. The prisoner eventually bled to death. One… resident told us that he could still hear the prisoners screams in his sleep.

The investigation found that a combination of crowding and understaffing has facilitated violence and illegal activity between inmates. Prison officials told investigators they are often unable to protect inmates even when given warning.

The violations are severe, systemic, and exacerbated by serious deficiencies in staffing and supervision; overcrowding; ineffective housing and classification protocols, the report reads.

In addition to the excessive amount of violence, sexual assault, and prisoner deaths, investigators found widespread reports of hostage situations and extortion between inmates, calling it a significant problem. The DOJ established a toll-free number for prisoners to report extortion by their fellow inmates, but inspectors found that the prisons were unable to prevent or protect prisoners from the tactic.

When one prisoner reported that he was being forced into sexual acts by other prisoners while being extorted for drug money, a resource officer told him that because he was in debt to a fellow prisoner, nothing could be done.

Another inmate reported being held hostage for several days in a dormitory over a debt. Upon finally escaping, the prisoner was so badly beaten he was immediately sent to the emergency room and required two facial surgeries.

The mother of one prisoner reported to the DOJ that she and her son were being extorted for money to pay off an alleged $600 debt to another prisoner. Through texts, the extorter threatened to chop her son into pieces and rape him if she did not send him $800.

Inmates reported rats and maggots in kitchen facilitiesand when one DOJ official entered a kitchen to inspect it, he became sick from inhaling toxic cleaning chemicals fumes.

Our investigation found reasonable cause to believe that Alabama fails to provide constitutionally adequate conditions and that prisoners experience serious harm, including deadly harm, as a result, said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division.

When DOJ experts shared preliminary conclusions with prison management, officials rarely, if ever, asked substantive questions, and the violence in Alabamas prisons has only increased since then, the report says.

In ongoing litigation, the Alabama prison systemwhich houses over 16,000 prisoners, but is designed to hold only 9,882has admitted to being dangerously understaffed. In February 2019, the system indicated that it needs to hire over 2,200 correctional officers and 130 supervisors over the next four years.

According to the report, if, after 49 days, the prison system has not corrected deficiencies identified in the report, the attorney general may file a lawsuit.

In response to the report, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn said they are making efforts to improve hiring and retention of correctional staff. The department has requested $31 million dollars in their 2020 budget, which Dunn says will allow them to hire 500 new correctional officers and increase the pay scale for all security personnel.

In response to DOJs findings, it is important to understand all the current efforts ADOC has taken and will continue to take to improve the conditions of confinement within the male prison system, Dunn said. (The governors) commitment to working closely with the Legislature to resolve this generational problem will ultimately lead to a 21st Century prison system.

Hustling is the default mode of the 21st century, and I'm not above listing my adorable split-level Victorian on Airbnb during my out-of-town weekends. Need to rent a car for the day? Take mine—I wasn't using it anyway. But whoring out my bed—my own private sanctuary, complete with sweat-stained sheets and raggedy stuffed elephant named Elephant—on Recharge, the “Airbnb for naps”? I'd rather sell a kidney. The tech industry thinks that every last inch of my personal space should be for hire, that strangers should be able to rent it, on demand, by the hour, at their convenience. I call it, with eye roll heavily implied, the sublet economy. Initial moves toward the micropersonal seemed sane enough: Share the extra storage space in your garage (Spacer) or the empty parking spot in your driveway (Pavemint, CARMAnation) or that boat you spent way too much money on (Boatbound, Antlos). But now we can't look past our own noses without seeing dollar signs and feeling the guilt of unmonetized potential. Nothing is sacred, not even your laundry room (Laundromatch—now defunct, ha!). With all those student loans, can you really afford to leave your kitchen vacant instead of entrusting it to someone else's dinner party (Feastly)? You know that very relatable problem where you have a toilet that's just sitting there, not generating any revenue, most hours of the day? Put it on Airpnp, the “Airbnb of toilets”! When I volunteer to host my most intimate spaces, I sacrifice some of my basic human dignity. What's next, a service for renting out my fresh, youthful blood? What's mine is not yours. Unless you'd like to help me scrounge up the cash for a down payment on a house. Did I mention I had a kidney for sale?